Rejoice Always . . .

Sometimes it is hard to rejoice, isn't it?  Life throws us curve balls . . . sadness and worry and sin weigh us down . . . we are overwhelmed . . .

Today when I thought about Naomi and how life changed in hard-to-imagine and heart-wrenching ways after her "arrival" two years ago, I thought about my favorite verses in the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice always.  Never stop praying.  Give thanks no matter what happens." 

These verses are my favorite because they are so challenging to me.  When you meet a person who truly lives these verses, you know it immediately -- it can't be helped.  I've only known a few such people in my life, and what a blessing they were/are! 

The kids have been memorizing these verses, and when they have struggles or want to gripe about who got the biggest pancake or who didn't get to sit next to dad at dinner, we talk about these verses and put them into practice. 

Now if I can only remember to do the same myself . . .

Naomi -- We are thankful your entire life will be spent living out these verses.  One day we'll join you and our other babies and loved ones in heaven in your continual praise of our Heavenly Father!

Weeks Seven & Eight - Picture Update

Has it been eight weeks already?  Wow! 

 

 

This is more for us than anyone else . . . this is the view of our house
from another mountain. 

Our neighbor, Don Marino, saw us return from a hike with some
sugar cane, and he came over with some stalks of a better
 variety for us to sample.  First, he skinned the stalks so we could
chew some sugar cane pulp.  Then, with some other stalks, he let us sample some sugar
cane juice.  He banged the "threads" to crack the cane and then wrung
the juice out of each segment.  Interesting!  What a sweet, sweet man!

The girls in their cooking class with Sadie.  They made
delicious empanadas.  Remember the empanadas
in Bolivia, sisters?  Yum! 

Our frog hunter!  These fellas were captured in our
backyard "pond."

The girls have taken to cooking at home, too.  Pancakes, anyone?

The girls are headed down to the market to buy some milk.
They are off in the distance . . . so big!

Their return

 

Our neighbor, Darian, brought his Playstation over. 
His sister Mariana has the cutest smile -- all silver :).

J organized an impromptu art contest, and this was the
winning entry!  Way to go, girls!

We bought out all the PB in Turrialba.  Don't even ask how much
it all cost.  Whew!  One day it will be gone . . .

A Mother's Day to Remember

We will certainly remember Mother's Day 2013!  When we returned from church that Sunday, we discovered that our house had been broken into.  E's beloved Nook, my wallet (not the one with my driver's license and credit cards, thankfully!), and four of our cameras were stolen.  One might wonder, as we have, why we had so many cameras with us -- I think the plan was for all the kids to have access to one for use on the trip.  They hadn't really used them much, and Hope didn't seem to mind that one of her two birthday presents from April was taken, so all in all, it could have been much worse. 

I'm thankful that I had uploaded most all our most recent pictures the day prior . . . I'm thankful that our computer and iPad and large camera and passports weren't taken . . . I'm thankful that all of the stuff that was taken was just that -- stuff. 

I'll post pictures eventually, but the thief first tried to enter through L's bedroom window.  He sawed through the lock and chiseled through the wood to pry open one panel.  The top chain on the window was too short (I think I'd removed it when L was messing with his window too much :), and the window wouldn't open, so the girls' window was targeted next.  There are marks in the wood where the thief tried to pry open the panels, and when that proved too difficult, a throwing a large rock through the glass did the trick. 

Since the break-in, J sleeps with a machete at the ready, and all the kids pile into the master bedroom.  :) :)

The only pictures that disappeared with the cameras were those of our Mother's Day celebration on Saturday night.  While I was with H and L at a birthday party, J and E made a delicious dinner, and E baked a cake and decorated the table.  E even picked flowers and made a beautiful centerpiece.  It was absolutely incredible!  I felt so special!  My kiddos and hubby are the greatest!  So glad the thief wasn't able to steal that time from us . . . thank you, Lord, for that blessing!

This and that

The Kids' Week 5 Presentation -
El Dia de los Trabajadores
The Costa Rican Labor Day was Wednesday, May 1. 
Ticos take the day very seriously -- protests and marches
are a major component of their holiday.

Jimmy and Vicky making tortillas. 

The girls and some of their favorite neighborhood friends. 

The biggest tree we've ever seen, except for the California Redwoods.
When we hike up the mountain from our house, this tree is on a little farm about a quarter mile away.

Week Four - Weekend (by E)

We went to the Pacific side this time. The beach was called Playa Manuel Antonio.  On day one, we walked down to the hotel's beach and swam in the water. The waves were giant compared to the Caribbean's tiny waves. That night we ate at the hotel's restaurant and saw our first monkey in the coconut trees near the restaurant. 
 The second day we went to a nature reserve . We saw monkeys, sloths, a humming bird and Jesus Christ Lizards. They got their name because they can run on water.  We also saw bats. One monkey opened a to-go box and stole a lemon from it. A different monkey did not like Hope, it bared it's teeth at her.
 On the last day we went on a cruise to see dolphins and whales. We saw dolphins  but no whales. One dolphin jumped over five feet in the air! Then we went snorkeling, and we saw a lot of cool fish. We also went down the slide on the boat that was straight down and jumped off the top deck of the boat. It was a awesome trip!

They spent hours in the surf having so much fun!

 

Our monkeys are enjoying bananas in the trees.  :)



These amazing trees line the beach and come in handy for many reasons!

Beach find

Spying animals at Manuel Antonio National Park.

Monos cariblancos

 This picture deserves to be huge -- how cool is it to see a big sloth in the wild?  Amazing!

What a daddy!

Our boat ride on day two -- super fun!

We got to see lots of dolphins.  If you look closely, you can see one in the air between H and E.

Snorkeling pit stop

 

The boat had a giant slide that was virtually a 12 foot vertical drop -- H bravely tried it one time. 
L jumped off the top of the boat time and time again.  Super kids!

Our hotel room:
We put the beds together at night and all slept together. 
H was already asleep in this pic, so she's hard to see.

J was too tall for all the doors (and the bed). 

 

Reptiles were everywhere on the hotel property!

This iguana (?) lived outside our room and guarded the sidewalk. 

Sometimes we had a hard time getting past him.

 

 

We had a delicious last meal at this restaurant, "El Avion," which was named for

this essential piece of décor.  The entire plane was inside the restaurant. 

Patrons were able to sit in the plane to eat if they were willing to deal with the

stifling heat -- we passed!

 

The view from our table.  It's hard to see, but the ocean is right behind/below us.  Beautiful!

 

Yummy lemonade!

 

 

A beautiful way to end our time on the Pacific side!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week Three - Weekend (by H)

We went to the volcano called Volcan Irazu.  It was a three hour drive to get their.  When we got their, it was raining. We went on a little hike .We saw only white clouds. The lake was not their. At  least we couldn't see it.  All we could see was lots of fog.  It was a fun trip.  I got to stand on a volcano.


Volcan Irazu in the rain.  Irazu is the tallest volcano in Costa Rica,
and if it had been a clear day, we would have been able to see the green lake in the principal crater,
the curvature of the earth, and both the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts.  Wow! 
Here's to the rainy season in CR!!  :)




At least we got to sample some delicious food on the way to Irazu! 
Luke is eating a Tico version of a hamburger. 
Hamburgers are served with a slice of ham on top of the beef (think they took the translation literally?)
 and always with grilled Queso Turrialba, a white, semi-hard cheese made right near where we live. 



The kids had fun exploring the grounds of the restaurant while we took a break
from driving.  There were beautiful gardens, a petting zoo, a playground, and
several "ponds" filled with trout and koi.

The Mission

The school we attend is the outgrowth of a ministry started in Costa Rica by two nationals eight years ago.  One of the men, Hector, grew up in San Jose, and his grandmother came to know Christ because of some Foursquare missionaries.  Despite persecution for leaving the Catholic church, she faithfully attended the missionaries' church and took her grandchildren along with her.  Hector grew up in a church that fully understood the importance and life-changing experience an actual relationship with Jesus Christ is.  When he was in his early twenties, he and a friend felt led by God to minister in Canada.  They had a fruitful time there and grew in their relationship with God and their English-speaking abilities.  God called them back to serve in rural areas of Costa Rica, and they started a ministry that reached out to the poor handicapped.  They also started an outreach to an indigenous tribe located far in the mountains.  As their ministries grew and teams from the U.S. and Canada came to assist in their endeavors, the language school was born.
The school now hosts many families per year and helps prepare many for long-term missions.  While here, students are able to participate in various ministries.  Our family hopes to start participating as soon as Hector returns from a visiting churches in the U.S.  We're hoping to work with children, and J will head into the jungle (a five to six hour hike) with a medical team to work with the Chiruppa tribe later in our trip.